


Better Unsaid

by Cafffeinations



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Canon Era, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lithuania's Outsourcing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6706081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cafffeinations/pseuds/Cafffeinations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>America's not always good at getting what he's thinking out into the right words, but it's probably for the best, because those kind of thoughts don't really seem like the kind of thing he should be putting out there anyway. Why make things weird, when Lithuania seems happy, and at the end of the day that's what he cares about most?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Unsaid

**Author's Note:**

> Also features Tony the alien - I'm not entirely sure how the timing of the Roswell incident fits in with him being around during Lithuania's outsourcing strips, but hey ho, I'm rolling with it!
> 
> Written for amelietweek on tumblr!

It had caught his attention as he'd passed by the kitchen window, and gently drawn him outside to gaze upon it in full; the moon as he hadn't seen it in a long time, perfectly round but unbelievably large, so low and so close it seemed only a handspan away from the tops of the nearby trees.

 _Wow_ , he thought, _I feel small_. Though wouldn't that make some of his fellow nations scoff, the always loud America, humbled?

To feel a little insignificant, just for one moment, was oddly comforting, if he was honest.

"America?" A now distinctly familiar voice called out, "Oh, here you are- oh!"

Out stepped Lithuania to his side, attention also captured by the brightness looming above.  "Doesn't the moon look close tonight?"

"I know! Pretty neat, right?"

Perhaps that didn't quite capture all he had been thinking, but he'd never been much of a poet.

"Do you think it means anything? Like a wish on a shooting star kind of thing?"

"Hmm," Lithuania tilted his head to the side, "Not that I know of."

"Aw. Maybe we'll have to create something!"

He saw out of the corner of his eye that soft smile he so liked to see (and thankfully, did fairly often) flit across Lithuania's face, and just about managed not to stare outright because he didn't want to be, well, too weird.

"Did you need something, by the way?"

"Ah, I was looking for Tony - have you seen him anywhere?"

With a nod he pointed towards a particularly tall tree at the end of the garden, where a silvery body could just be made out amongst the leaves. "That looks like him up there. You know, the last time the moon looked all special like this he sat up on the roof and didn't come down all night. And there was this time a while back, when there were just hundreds of stars out, and he just stared up at them without speaking for ages then as well."

He'd been a bit worried at first, actually, but by morning he'd been back to his usual sweary charming self.  "I think he likes to be close to this kind of stuff when it happens. He's probably homesick, right? I guess he is pretty far away!"

Lithuania hummed a soft noise of agreement, and quiet descended over them. It couldn't be easy for Tony, he started to think, and - _crap,_ mentally kicked himself, because of course Lithuania would know about being far away from home, being here and all!

"I-"

"Does he ever talk about going back at all?"

"Uh," Lithuania was still smiling, and he hoped it wasn't too forced because he really hadn't meant to make him uncomfortable, "not really. Once he took my whole radio apart and carried random bits out to who knows where. But he's still around, so I figure the repairs didn't work and he's stuck here."

"I see," Lithuania mused, "But maybe he isn't stuck and just likes being here."

"Hmph. He likes it now you're around, anyhow!"

Lithuania chuckled, and brushed a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

"I think," he said slowly, and if America didn't know any better, he'd say he was kind of  embarrassed, "that even though he misses home, he's still pretty happy here. You're a good host, America."

"You really think so?"

A different sort of smile etched its way onto Lithuania's lips, a twisty one he couldn't quite read, "I'd say I know so."

Jeez, was a little compliment really making his cheeks feel so hot?

"You're not just flattering me to get a day off now are you?" he joked.

"Of course not!"

"Hey, I'm just teasin'. You can have all the time off you want, you do too much for me as it is. I mean it," he carried on as Lithuania looked set to protest, "You deserve a vacation. And anything else you ever want, just let me know and I'll do my best to help!"

He flashed his widest grin, and Lithuania made that unreadable sort of face again as he made the briefest eye contact before looking away.

"And you wonder if you're a good host," he said quietly, sending a wave of reassurance through him.

"I'm really happy you're here. Not because of why!" he added hastily, mentally kicking himself once again, "Or that things aren't getting better quicker. But I want you to be as happy as possible given all the circumstances. And they're gonna get better one day soon, I'm sure of it!"

A cool breeze ruffled through the air and set the hairs on his arms on end, at the same time sending a small shiver through Lithuania; he was hit by an impulse to put an arm around his shoulders and pull him close. But he caught himself in time, because standing in the moonlight like _that_ , probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to be doing. Even if it did sound like a pretty nice scene.

That wasn't a road to be going down though, he reminded himself, as he had many a still moment between them. This was all temporary and one day Lithuania would leave - doing those kind of things would only make it harder when he did. Not to mention that Lithuania probably didn't want to be that way with him anyway, young and naive and always saying the wrong thing as he was. He hadn't even looked at him properly in the last few minutes, so wasn't that a hint enough that he needed to stop those trains of thought?

"It's getting cold out," he broke their silence, "What did you want Tony for anyway?"

"He'd begged me to play checkers with him earlier."

"Well, I doubt he'll come down tonight, and he'll beam you up if he changes his mind. What do you say, am I a worthy opponent?" He raised his eyebrow in a challenge, and Lithuania turned to give him a smile he didn't see so often, one of the sly variety.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

\---

Having held his own for the first few games, he'd been all set to declare a huge moon as a sign of good luck (for him, at least). But then Lithuania had stepped up his game and all had gone to pot; now, as he'd sighed out loud, it seemed more of a bad sign.

A part of him had wanted to say _hey, this full moon is creeping me out, can you hear that howling outside?_ or, _look at those creepy shadows against the window!_ and shudder until Lithuania called him a wuss but let him sleep in the same bed anyway, but... they'd said goodnight and turned to their respective rooms.

It was for the better, he told himself, as he slipped inside his sheets alone (and not thinking about how nice it would be to curl up into Lithuania's warm side, and wake up next to him, nope, not at all).

\---

Tony was indeed back on top form the next day, having woken America up from his Saturday snoozing with what he could only describe as some otherworldly, super-sonic screeching that was apparently humming; rifling through a stack of magazines as if the bedroom was his own, he seemed completely unperturbed by America's sleepy objections of _boundaries_ and _do you have to do this right now?!,_ wandering away with whatever he'd been after.

But his antics hadn't stopped there, for as America helped Lithuania hang out the laundry before lunch (" _I want to help!"_ he'd had to explain, _"It's a quicker chore with these electric washers right, they're the best aren't they - but this will be even quicker with both of us!"_ ), he kept being hit in the head by random twigs and tiny rocks and things that simply did not levitate themselves.

"That's it!" he snapped as he turned to chase after the glimpse of alien hiding behind the house, only to trip over his own two feet and fall with the most elegant flailing to the ground.

"Ow," he muttered, looking up to see Lithuania clearly trying not to laugh, lips quivering as he asked if he was alright.

"I can see you're laughing," he grumbled as he stood and dusted the dirt off himself, "Where's my sympathy, hm? Look, I'm even injured!"

Holding out his hand out to show the smallest of grazes on the bottom of his palm, he pouted as Lithuania made a show of squinting down at it.

"Hmm," and then Lithuania took hold of his wrist and brought the afflicted hand closer to himself for inspection, "What am I looking at, exactly?"

"Aw, you're mean. The smallest cuts are the worst, you know!"

"There's not even a cut," he teased, but was smiling, and _still holding my hand_ , his thudding heartbeat informed him, spiking off the charts as after a moment Lithuania's thumb stroked softly against his own. He could barely breathe as warmth flowed through him, and only when Lithuania let go did he remember how to again.

What he really wanted to say was _that was nice, I don't mind_ , but somehow what he blurted out instead was "No!"

Lithuania blinked, confused, though ever so slightly rosy-cheeked.

"No, uh, need for a doctor then?" He thought quickly, hopefully sounding less ridiculous than he felt.

"No, I think you'll be okay."

He didn't dare look Lithuania in the eyes so turned towards the clothes line instead, not thinking about the hand-holding - not that it was hand-holding, but-

"America," Lithuania began, sounding...nervous? "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Absolutely!" he said as brightly as possible, not panicking at all.

"It's about what you said last night. About taking some time off. I could, if you are really sure it's okay, do with going home for a few days."

 _Oh_ , he thought, not sure what he'd been expecting, but pleased he was actually asking for something for once.

"It's just, I don't feel like I'm being properly informed lately. I _feel_ things happening, but I can't always tell what. I won't be impressed if there are things I'm not being told."

Now he thought about it, he hadn't seen any letters come for Lithuania in a while now; it must suck, to feel so out of the loop. How long had he felt that way, he wondered, and felt like an awful friend for not even considering it before.

"Go and give them a piece of your mind," he said, seriously, well aware from stories of battles old that Lithuania was more than capable of being fierce, "And take as long as you need. There'll always be a place waiting for you here."

Lithuania nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said, because it really wasn't, although, "Guess I better remember how to get myself organised in the mornings again!"

They chuckled, and he bumped Lithuania's shoulder with his own playfully, who returned the bump, so of course he did again but this time sort of rested there, and when he didn't move Lithuania did directly look at him, curious.

He quickly pulled back with a cough.

"There's something else," Lithuania suddenly said in such a rush that America almost didn't understand him.

"Shoot," he said, mouth just a little dry.

But Lithuania didn't continue, not for a while, and he wondered whether he'd really done something bad if it was this hard to say.

"I want - sorry, I'd like, to know, if..if there's something you've been thinking about recently, but aren't...sure you should say it."

Well, damn. Did he mean what he thought he meant? Was he that obvious?!

"Forgive me if I am wrong! It's just, I think I see you looking at me sometimes when you think I'm not and-"

"I've made you uncomfortable, God, I-"

"Let me finish," Lithuania chided gently, though the tone did nothing to calm the panic rushing in his head right now, sure as he was he'd gone and put his foot in it.

"Maybe if there is something you want to ask, you should, because I might just be feeling the same."

 _No way,_ his pulse quickened, mind racing with disbelief.

"But you don't even look at me sometimes," he thought out loud, without meaning to.

"And all the times you can't look me in the eye," Lithuania replied, a rueful smile on his face, "like now, for instance, why is it?"

_Because you make my stomach flutter, and I grin like a fool, and I wouldn't be able to hide it, and-_

"I get...embarrassed," he admitted at last, "you make me feel things that I shouldn't, and its just. Intense, I guess."

"Well, its the same for me too. Its not because I don't like you!"

Right. _Right!_

"I didn't realise," he said, sheepishly, "I thought I would be making things weird. And I ...didn't want to make it worse when you go."

Lithuania seemed thoughtful now; was it that surprising? He supposed he came across like a guy who only lived in the moment, and that he didn't worry about things. But of course even he did, sometimes.

"I think I'll be here for a bit longer yet," he said, quietly, "Don't feel bad - of course I wish it didn't have to be this way, but the way you're helping me and my people...it helps a lot. And since I am here, well, I wouldn't have thought of you as someone who believed in stopping yourself from being happy now, because of what could happen later. Of course, if you still don't want to that's completely fine and I understand."

America wasn't entirely sure what to say, but he did know what he wanted to do. Taking Lithuania's hand back into his own and lacing their fingers together, he managed to look up and fully meet the gaze of those deep green eyes; bashfully, they smiled at each other.

"I can't believe, all this time..." he suddenly laughed, feeling foolish, "It's a good job one of us is brave!"

Lithuania squeezed his hand back and _wow_ , he felt lighter than ever before.

"Courage comes in different ways and times. You just...get to a point where you learn to make the most of the good things you have."

"Let's do that, then,"  he grinned, and surely their cheeks would would be aching if they didn't stop smiling soon but he for one couldn't force his expression into anything else, not now that this was really happening.

And it didn't feel weird at all, to take hold of Lithuania's other hand and place a kiss upon his knuckle, but perfectly right.


End file.
